


OUAT Drabbles

by Luthien



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Regency, Drabbles, Episode Tag, F/M, Gen, Honeymoon, Wedding Night
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2018-01-06 08:08:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1104466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luthien/pseuds/Luthien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Various drabbles featuring Rumpelstiltskin. Most are Belle/Rumple.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. December Drabbles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just doing some housekeeping. These were responses to prompts on tumblr from months ago. They're true drabbles, so each is exactly 100 words.
> 
> Posted December 2013.

_For Valoscope, who wanted OUAT, Rumbelle and “3 Day Potion”._

**Three Day Potion _  
_**

It’s a simple potion, but not easy – just the sort of conundrum that appeals to Rumpelstiltskin.

He adds the harpy’s feather on the first day, giggling gleefully as the cauldron bubbles.

Then he leaves it to simmer for a hundred years.

He adds the dragon’s tooth on the second day, grinning as the potion thickens.

Then he leaves it for another century.

Belle finds it a month before the third day.

“What is it?” she asks.

“Unfinished,” he replies, and knows it will remain so. She’s a puzzle infinitely simpler and more difficult than any potion. He needs no other.

*

_For Roberre, who requested OUAT, Rumbelle and “stiff-necked”. This is an episode tag for 2x19 “Lacey”:_

_  
_**Collared**

Soon after they return to the Dark Castle, Rumpelstiltskin’s stiff, high-collared leather coat with the spiked edges returns as well. He’s still wearing it the next day, and the next, as he darts furtive, uncertain glances Belle’s way.

The stiff collar gets in the way, the next time she impulsively flings her arms around him – and she realises then that that’s the whole point. He’s too stiff-necked to admit that he’s not a monster, that he craves affection like any man, so instead he tries to hold it at bay.

Belle smiles: he’s forgotten that _she_ doesn’t wear a collar.

*

_This one’s for intoni, who asked for Gold/Charming and “rose”. It ended up being Rumpelstiltskin + Charming, because that pairing would take me a LOT more than 100 words, but at least I managed the rose. *g*_

**Pricks** _  
_

“Don’t touch anything,” Rumpelstiltskin warns, though there’s no need. Charming knows the things on display aren’t just things: they’re prices that have been paid.

A single red rose in a vase catches his attention. There’s something compelling about it, vivid and fresh. Stupidly, unthinkingly, he reaches out and-

Rumpelstiltskin’s hand grabs his wrist and Charming jumps back guiltily, catching his finger on a thorn.

“Careful. That one’s more prick than rose,” Rumpelstiltskin says, but the look in his eyes doesn’t match his disparaging tone.

Charming wonders whose price the rose was, but at least he’s smart enough not to ask.

*


	2. June Drabbles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Responses to drabble prompts on tumblr, June 2014. Each drabble is exactly 100 words, apart from the double drabble, which is 200 words.
> 
> These are all Belle/Rumple.

**1\. First Flush**

_beeeinyourbonnet prompted: pink_

 

The morning after their wedding, Belle comes downstairs in a pink dress. Rumpelstiltskin frowns. He’s never seen her wear pink before. Scarlet, yes, and ruby and deeper crimsons. Passionate shades, all of them.

This dress is… pretty, dainty, soft but somehow flimsy. There’s no strength to it. No fire.

Belle moves in front of the window and the sunlight catches her dress. Rumpelstiltskin’s breath catches in his throat: the dress conceals nothing.

Belle smiles mischievously. She _knows_. Of course she does. She draws him down into a kiss, and Rumpelstiltskin thinks that he could get used to Belle in pink.

~*~

**2\. The Perfect Brew**

_ophidiae prompted: tea_

 

Belle was never good at preparing tea.

She regularly scorched the delicate green tea leaves from the night market in Agrabah with boiling water, and then over-steeped the tea so much that she left it astringent as the reprimand Rumpelstiltskin somehow didn’t make.

He put his silence down to the novelty of having someone else make the tea.

After she left, magic prepared tea faultlessly, but it never tasted quite right.

When Belle came back, impossibly alive, Rumpelstiltskin was the one who made tea for her, but he couldn’t wait for the day when he’d taste scorched leaves once more.

~*~

**3\. Perchance (not) to Dream**

_empressberenene prompted: sleeping_

 

Belle never saw Rumpelstiltskin asleep the whole time she was at the Dark Castle. He wasn’t a monster, but he was something more than human, too.

The man who never slept was the one who let her go.

Rumpelstiltskin is different in this new world. Perhaps. He declares his love for her as any man might, then demonstrates that love as only a dark wizard can.

Later, he makes love to her. There’s nothing more human, but it feels magical. It’s only when Belle wakes up and finds him asleep beside her that she’s sure all the rest is real.

~*~

**4\. A Poet of Cloth**

_Nym prompter: cravat_

_Note: This one is a double drabble._   _Regency AU._

 

Lord Gold was hardly a Corinthian; all the _ton_ knew that his malacca cane was more than a fashionable accoutrement. But nor could he be called a Dandy. He dressed with quiet taste. His swallow-tailed coat of blue superfine was unmistakably of Weston’s tailoring, but his shirt points were no more than moderate and his waistcoat was far from extravagant. Nor did he wear any jewellery save for a single, curious ring – not a signet ring – on his right hand, and an eponymous gold pin in his cravat.

Lord Gold’s cravat was a thing of understated beauty. The exquisite arrangement of its snowy folds was the one part of his get-up that set him quite apart. He affected neither the intricacies of the Mathematical nor the extremes of the Waterfall Tie. Instead, he developed his own style. The final effect looked simple, but many an aspiring Tulip of Fashion had been heard to declare bitterly that Gold must have some magic power, for surely no one else had ever achieved a creditable Golden Fall.

Miss French’s hands were the first other than his own to touch Lord Gold’s famous cravat. He did not object, but assisted her in its ruin.

~*~

**5\. The Good Oil**

_intoni prompted: unctuous_

 

Rumpelstiltskin created the stuff by accident. The maid disturbed him at the critical moment; considerably more than the requisite three drops of magical swamp slime ended up in the cauldron.

The result was a pale, unctuous liquid, so slippery that it must be good for something. Rumpelstiltskin just didn’t know what that something was.

And yet he did know, perhaps even then. Definitely later, during those long nights when he tried to keep his thoughts from Belle and his hands to himself.

He put it to use, and wound up wishing that he were stronger – and not quite so oily.

~*~

**6\. The Flipside of the Coin**

_thedoobly-doo prompted: panic attack_

 

Rumpelstiltskin calls himself a coward, but he knows it’s not really true. There’s fear in him, yes, though he’ll deny it to everyone but Belle. He _needs_ to be in control. Power provides him with the illusion of safety—a lie, but a comforting lie. Nowhere is ever really safe. Not even Storybrooke.

He worries when Belle doesn’t arrive home on time, and then doesn’t answer her phone. He’s ready to smash the furniture by the time she finally walks in the door.

He’s scared for her and not himself. It’s a terrifying and electrifying revelation. It feels like courage.

~*~

**7\. Journey of Discovery**

_iambicdearie prompted: Odyssey_

 

Belle’s always dreamed of a life of adventure, full of new sights and experiences.

She starts at Rumple’s lips, familiar as home, then kisses along his jaw and down his neck—still just a day trip. Perhaps she hears a sigh when her lips travel over his breastbone. When she pauses, breath hot against a pebbled nipple, she’s sure of it.

Belle continues on over his quivering belly and into uncharted territories until she arrives at her destination, and her lips taste the unknown.

Rumple groans, and thrusts up into her mouth.

It’s not what she dreamed of. It’s better.

~*~

**_These last three form a drabble sequence, so each is a mini-chapter._ **

 

**8.1 Shameless**

_anonymous prompted: lingerie  
_

 

The choice of bridal lingerie in the world outside Storybrooke is dizzying in its variety. Some things are familiar—though Belle’s never seen a black lace corset before. Artfully placed red satin ribbon enhances rather than conceals. It puts her modest white bra to shame. 

She thinks Rumpelstiltskin might enjoy the shameless corset, but there’s no time to order anything: they’re getting married tonight. 

The small bruise just above the edge of her bra cup catches her eye in the mirror as she dresses. Belle grins at her reflection: she’s quite capable of being shameless without any sort of corset. 

 

** 8.2 (Un)dress **

_ betsypaige22 prompted: wedding night _

 

They undress each other slowly. That’s how things start off, anyway. 

Rumple removes Belle’s cloche hat and places it carefully on the nightstand. Next comes her coat. He eases it off her shoulders and- 

Rumple stops being slow then. He stops completely. She’s surprised him. 

“I’m glad I didn’t know you were wearing this during the ceremony,” he whispers against her ear. 

Belle shivers as his hands cup her shape through the revealing lace, and turns to face him. “I’m glad you know now,” she says, somehow shy and not shy at all. 

Her coat falls to the floor, forgotten. 

 

** 8.3 Wedding Trip **

_ oceanofdarkness prompted: morning after _

 

Belle is woken by a loud crash, followed by the dulcet tones of Rumple swearing. She drags herself up on her elbows, blinking sleepily when she finds him sprawled on the floor. Naked. 

"Are you all right?" she asks, concerned. 

"Fine." Rumple sighs. "I got out of bed and…" He gestures vaguely, and Belle realises that his feet are tangled in her coat. He moves to get up. 

"Don't." Belle grins, and slips out of bed. She may have been a wife for less than a day, but she knows better than to let a naked husband go to waste.


End file.
